I ran up to the deck when I heard that the CalMac ferry was stopping in the Minch to collect the dirty washing from a posh yacht. Helpful as ever, I lent a hand to winch the bundle of clothes up from the smaller vessel. In doing so, I somehow got caught in the rigging of the yacht, and when the CalMac ferry pulled away I found myself parted from the CalMac crew, the rest of the CalMac passengers, and TPR. How exciting to be setting off on a yachting adventure and leaving the dreary world of ferry travel behind!

Unfortunately I soon discovered that I was as an unwanted guest of the red-headed captain of the yacht. He barely acknowledged me with his greeting “I’ll dump you at Perth”. However, once we reached land I found that I was much more popular with the rest of his family, all of whom shared my pale, blue-eyed, ginger colouring. His twin daughters looked just as I did at 13 with long waves of red hair tumbling over their shoulders. They told me that all the children in this family went to the same boarding school (Mrs Crawford’s), and that they lived in Teesside (Billingham to be precise). I guessed correctly that the captain worked at ICI.

Then I suddenly remembered that I had LR’s PhD thesis to read. I tracked down KH and ED who were discussing the work. PR was sitting beside them. I guessed that PR must be the external examiner.

Before long an undergraduate spotted us and wandered over. He whispered in my ear that he was going to interrupt the conversation to tell PR that he had dreamt about him the night before. I strongly advised him not to do so: this would be most unprofessional.